Graziano: Manuel is a good man, manager

Jerry Manuel played for Ralph Houk and Dick Williams and coached under Felipe Alou and Jim Leyland, so he's learned a thing or two about managing along the way.

He's also tasted some success as a big-league manager himself, winning the AL Central and the Manager of the Year award as the skipper of the Chicago White Sox in 2000.

William Perlman/The Star-Ledger Jerry Manuel in the dugout at Shea.

People think Manuel is just going to be a continuation of Randolph, and that's true in one way - a very good way. The Mets were fortunate to be deep in Dignified, Well Respected, Knowledgeable Baseball Man - to the extent that they could fire one and replace him with another.

But Manuel, while a nice and classy man, is not going to appear boring. He will lose his temper from time to time. And he won't be afraid to call out a player, as he did several times with no less a light than Frank Thomas while he was manager of the White Sox.

Manuel will represent the Mets' franchise well, and likely will have a chance to keep the job beyond this year if the team can turn things around and get into the playoffs. He knows these players and they respect him. And while he is a friend and a peer of Randolph's, he has a manager's eye and likely has some ideas about how, specifically, he wants to do the job.

Manuel was not a good major-league player. During his 15-year professional playing career, which lasted from 1972 to 1986, he played 1,255 minor-league games and 96 in the majors. He got big-league time with the Tigers in 1975 and 76 (when he played for Houk), with the Expos in 1980 and 81 (when he played for Williams) and with the Padres in 1982 (Williams again).

When his playing career ended, he moved right into coaching in the Expos' farm system. He began managing in the minor leagues in 1990, winning the Southern League's Manager of the Year award that year for his work with an 84-60 Jacksonville team. The Expos promoted him to manage their Triple-A team the following year, but by June he was on the big-league coaching staff as the third-base coach.

He remained in that position when Alou arrived to manage the team in 1992 and stayed in it through 1996. After that season, Leyland hired him to be his bench coach on a Marlins team that would win the World Series in 1997. Along with pitching coach Larry Rothschild, Manuel was one of two Leyland coaches to get big-league managing jobs off of that World Series. The White Sox hired him to be their manage for the 1998 season.

Manuel managed the White Sox for six seasons, finishing .500 or better in each of the last four. During his time as Sox manager, Manuel had several feuds with Thomas, many of which were rooted in the latter's attitude and perceived unwillingness to work hard on behalf of the team.

Manuel will leave no doubt who's in charge. He knows how to manage a baseball game - he learned from some of the best - and he'll put his foot down when need be. If the team starts to play better (a distinct possibility given the way their schedule eases out and the talent Manuel has to work with), he has a chance to be much more than a caretaker at Shea Stadium. If he can get along with ownership the way Randolph never did or could, he has a chance to stick around for a while.